


Cyberpunk Rebellion #612

by Moondragon8



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Team as Family, implied mild body horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22091158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moondragon8/pseuds/Moondragon8
Summary: Attention, citizens. Today, several young trolls managed to leave their Facilities and their whereabouts are currently unknown. However, if they wish to survive the sun, their only choice is the city, so the Empire asks you keep an eye out for the following signs. Aries. Ge----TH3 S1GNL355'5 D35C3ND4NT H45 833N F0UND. T4K3 H0P3. 4LL 15 N0T L05T. R3V0L7. R3V0L7. R3-----rgo, and Libra. Thank you for your attention. Long live the Condesence.
Relationships: Aradia Medigo & Terezi Pyrope, Kanaya Maryam & Karkat Vantas, Kanaya Maryam & Porrim Maryam, Latula Pyrope & Terezi Pyrope, Meulin Leijon & Nepeta Leijon, Mituna Captor & Sollux Captor, Mituna Captor/Latula Pyrope, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Porrim Maryam/Damara Megido, Sollux Captor & Nepeta Leijon
Comments: 19
Kudos: 38





	1. ===> Nepeta: Explore.

It was dark outside, but the sun was going to rise soon, which meant it was not a good time to be going outside.

Of course, there really was no good time to be going outside. Dark meant people might be outside, and light meant you physically could not leave. Clearly, one was preferable. You had to take what you could get.

Nepeta landed hard on the ground and winced slightly before straightening up and heading towards the front of the Facility.

The Facility looked a lot bigger from the outside. Nepeta stayed low to the ground, out of view of the windows, and tried to move quickly. But everything was just so interesting! The grass was so much crunchier than she had expected, and the moons looked brighter when there was no window in the way, and it was so _cold!_

Despite her best attempts, she laughed a little. This was going to make her the most popular kid in the Facility once she got back!

She darted past the front doors to the Facility and started making her way down the long, lonely road. Of course, she could always not come back…

No, no, that was a bad idea. What did the television always say? All those bright lights and speeding people and speeding cars were not safe for people as young as Nepeta. She could get herself seriously hurt outside of the Facility.

She clenched her fists and the metallic claws sprang out. She could totally take care of herself, and she was only going to go back to the Facility to prove that she could, so they didn’t think she’d died or something stupid like that. 

She continued down the road. It was very empty. Apparently not everything outside was loud and dangerous like the educational programs had said. 

A large building slowly rose up from the horizon. It looked almost identical to her Facility. And-oh no. Oh no no no. There was someone coming towards her. 

Nepeta straightened up and tried to look adult. The person was roughly her height, so maybe they were a kid too?

They stopped a few inches away from her and let out a strangled squeak. 

“Hii,” Nepeta said. 

They nodded very slowly, keeping their head down. 

“Uh...nice night, isn’t it?”

The person glanced up instinctively. “Uh, yeah. I guess so.” Their voice was quiet and sounded non-threatening, Nepeta thought. 

“I’m Nepeta Lejion,” she introduced herself, because why not?

“Yeah, I know,” the person said. 

“You do?” she said, caught off-guard. “How?”

The person finally looked directly at her. They were wearing a pair of cool glasses that obscured their eyes. “The glasses. They scanned your sign.” They adjusted the (creepy) glasses. “Apparently you have ‘modified claws’. That’s kind of cool. I don’t have any of those.”

Nepeta looked at her hands. She had only recently figured out that she wasn’t born with the claws, and she still didn’t really like to think about it. “So...your name?” she asked in an effort to change the subject. 

“Sollux Captor,” the glasses person said, holding out their hand. “What are you doing out here?”

“You’re not authorized to hear that,” Nepeta said proudly. That was what the carers always said when she asked a question they didn’t like. She shook his hand anyway though.

Sollux tilted his head. “If I tell you why I’m out here, will you tell me?”

Nepeta frowned. “Okay.”

“I’m running away,” Sollux said very quietly. “I have some sort of weird power and I think they’re gonna lock me up somewhere and do something bad like try and suck all the power out of me. I’m not sure, but I didn’t want to risk it.”

“Woah,” Nepeta said. “I was, uh, I just wanted to go out and see what it was like.”

“That’s fair,” Sollux said with a shrug. “I probably would’ve done that eventually.”

“Yeah,” Nepeta said. It was getting warmer. “We should probably keep going.”

“I guess we should.”

They kept walking, not entirely sure where the destination was. The sky was still dark, so there was no sense of urgency yet. Once, they passed another Facility. The street remained empty of anything else, even cars.   
“Hold up,” Nepeta said after a while. “I think I hear something.”

“What?” Sollux said, spinning around immediately. 

“Can your weird sign-scanning glasses do like, a life scanner?” Nepeta said. 

“They can read heat signatures, but those are inconsistent-”

“Just do it!” Nepeta hissed. 

Sollux swallowed. “Yup, there’s. There is definitely someone walking towards us.”

“Okay,” Nepeta said quietly. “Let’s just. Let’s just turn around and keep walking.”  
“HEY!” a loud voice called the instant they turned around. “Why arentcha talking to me, Lemon Zest and Grassy Weirdo?”

“ _What_ did they say?” Sollux said.

Nepeta shook her head. “I have no idea. Keep going.”

“No come _back,”_ the voice said, almost whining. “You smell so interesting!”  
“Weird,” Sollux muttered. 

“Okay, now we run,” Nepeta said. 

They took a sharp left into the crunchy grass on the roadside and ran straight into a bush. Sollux instantly fell over as if he believed he could fool their follower into believing he had fallen into a pit behind the bush. Nepeta just dropped to a crouch and unsheathed her claws, sizing up the potential opponent. 

The person coming towards them was possibly actually shorter than Nepeta, but was wearing a pair of glasses- _oh, great, more potential creepy knowledge about me_ -and carrying what appeared to be a stick. But not in a “hit you with this probably” way, but like they were poking everything in front of them with the stick. 

“Huh,” Nepeta muttered. 

“Grassy Weirdo!” the new person said, waving and smiling in a way that was probably supposed to be friendly but that Nepeta couldn’t help but feel was ominous. “You almost blended in with the bush, there! But Lemon Zest is still there and _reeeeally_ obvious. Why is that, anyway?” 

Sollux whimpered from beside Nepeta. 

Nepeta had no earthly idea what was going on. 


	2. ==> Karkat: Complain

At roughly the same time, a decent but not long distance away, a small boy was complaining to his two friends. 

“You shouldn’t have come with me,” Karkat said, crossing his arms. “You’re just putting yourselves in danger.”

“Do not be ridiculous,” Kanaya said. “You are our friend, and if you got hurt, I would be in danger. Emotionally. My emotions would be in danger of there being too many emotions.”

“You’re ridiculous!” Karkat snapped. 

“What she’s trying to say is we like you and we’re coming with you so you don’t get hurt,” Aradia said patiently. “Because the outside world is daaaaangerous!”  
“Yeah, it sure seems dangerous,” Karkat huffed, gesturing at the empty road and clear sky. “Oh no, a cloud! Whatever would I do without my friends here to protect me?”

“Let me see your cut,” Kanaya said, changing the subject. “I think we can safely take the bandage off now.”

“No!” Karkat said, pulling his hand away. 

“Yes!”

“Guys,” Aradia said.

“Your cut needs to breathe!” Kanaya said insistently. 

“The cut’s what got us into this in the first place!” Karkat protested. 

“ _Guys.”_

“That doesn’t matter now, we’re away from the Facility!”  
“I don’t care!”

“GUYS!” Aradia said. “Be _quiet._ There’s people up ahead.”

Kanaya and Karkat froze in an almost comical manner and slowly turned to look. 

“Ooh, there’s _more_ people!” a faint voice said. “Do you know them, Grassy Weirdo?”

“Did I hear that right?” Karkat muttered. 

“Let’s go say hi!” Aradia said. 

Kanaya sighed. “They already know we are here. We have got nothing to lose.”

Karkat and Aradia followed her to the three having a standoff.

“Hi, I’m Terezi!” the person who had been talking before said with a wide smile. “I’m calling you Pine, Tasty Red, and-oooh, Candy Red!” This last was directed at Karkat, with an accompanying step towards him. 

“What?” Aradia and Kanaya said. Karkat was too busy hiding behind them. 

Terezi sighed. “Nevermind. What are your names?”

“A...radia?” Aradia said, still distrustful of this new person. 

“Kanaya,” Kanaya said. 

“Karkat,” Karkat muttered from behind them.

“Nepeta,” an entirely new voice said. The three newcomers all turned to see a girl with unsheathed claws standing up from behind a bush.

“Sollux,” muttered someone else, slowly standing up from the same bush. “Please excuse the...hiding.”

“S’cool,” Terezi said. “See, now we’re all introduced and I don’t have to call any of you weird names. How hard was that?”

“What are you doing here?” Karkat demanded, emerging fully from behind his friends. “Are any of you adults?” He realized his mistake a second too late. “I mean, like us? Are any of you _not_ adults, is what I meant to say, because obviously kids should not be outside and if they are-”

“It’s cool, Shorty,” Nepeta said with a wave of her hand. “We’re all kids here.”

“Oh, okay,” Karkat said. “Wait, Shorty?”

“Me and Sollux here are running away because-hm? Uh, because we don’t want to...be stuck in the Facility anymore,” Nepeta continued, ignoring Karkat but paying attention to Sollux.

“I was gonna get killed if I stayed in the Facility!” Terezi said, not dropping her weird smile for a second. 

“Fun!” Aradia replied with the same level of cheerfulness. 

Terezi chuckled. “I like this one!” 

“Me too,” Karkat said. “I mean, I was also going to get killed. I also agree with Aradia being cool, but-yeah.”

“Aradia and I were not in any danger, but came with him on his escape regardless,” Kanaya explained. “Because we are good friends.”

“More like stupid friends,” Karkat mumbled. 

Nepeta looked around at everyone, then up at the sky. “Well, I guess we should be moving on. It’s gonna be sunrise soon.”

“Right behind you!” Terezi said brightly.

“When I said ‘we’, I meant me and Sollux.”

“Nope, you definitely said ‘we’ as in ‘all of my new friends here and me.’”

“None of their signs have anything bad on record,” Sollux said. “Except Karkat, who, uh, doesn’t _have_ a sign that I can see-“

“ON TO THE CITY!” Karkat declared.

Aradia clapped her hands.

Terezi smiled.

Kanaya sighed.

“So, what was with the weird nicknames back there?” Sollux said to Terezi as they continued walking, now with heightened urgency.

“Oh, that?” Terezi very obviously stalled. “Well, it was…” 

She sighed and pushed up her glasses. “As of three days ago, I’m blind.”

“Huh.”

“I can’t see.”

“Yeah, no, I got that.”

“So I started relying on smell to find my way around!” 

“Oh. Oh, that’s clever!” 

“Thank you,” Terezi preened.

“So then the nicknames were-“

“Based on smell, yes. You’ve got this weird zesty hint. It’s kinda like when a computer overheats or one of the Carers gets too close...”

“Oh, yeah,” Sollux said sheepishly. “I’ve got a, uh, a _thing_ with electricity.”

“Oh, electricity!” Terezi said thoughtfully. “I didn’t realize that was electricity. Fascinating!”

“Thanks, I think.”

“Whoa!” Aradia said from ahead of them. “Is that the city?”

“I think so,” Kanaya said. “My goodness, that is...big.”

“What did you expect?” Karkat said. “It’s the _city.”_

“Yes, but…” 

“I get it,” Nepeta said. “It’s bigger than you would expect to it be, somehow, even though you expected it to be, like, _huge_.”

“Yeah,” Sollux said.

They stood there for some time just staring at the city. The artificial shield that protected the citizens from the burning sun shimmered faintly blue, a dome over the brightly sparkling and impossibly tall buildings. 

“We should keep going,” Aradia finally said. “We’re not made of time over here. The sun’s going to come up any second and the city’s still far away.” 

“Plus, they’re probably looking for us by now,” Sollux pointed out.

“I can’t see the city and it’s too far away to smell, so I have nothing to lose here,” Terezi said.   
Karkat took one glance at the horizon and yelled "RUN!"

They all took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, in case you couldn't tell, they're still trolls in this AU. And there's only one city on Alternia.


	3. ==> Kids: Arrive

The city wasn’t guarded, at least not at the small segment of the border that the kids arrived at, which was a relief.  
“Ow ow ow,” Karkat said, clutching his arm with a wince.  
“This is so weird,” Nepeta said, looking up at the sky. “Look, that’s the sun, but we’re fine.”  
“Don’t look at the sun, you idiot!” Terezi yelped.  
“Let us keep going,” Kanaya said gently. “It is still best to be inside.”  
The buildings of the city weren’t that big, at least not at the start-they were maybe three, four stories tall and simple, with fire escapes and light floating from some of the windows. A few people passed the group in the street, but no one seemed to give them a second glance.  
“We should probably figure out some way to obscure our signs,” Sollux said. “If anyone happens to scan them, we’re all marked as ‘kids’ and ‘escaped, to be returned’.”  
“No purroblem!” Nepeta said, and promptly stabbed her shirt with her claws until it was too torn to tell much aside from “has a sign”.  
“Geez,” Aradia said.  
“Understatement,” Karkat said, wide-eyed.  
“Are you not cold?” Kanaya said worriedly.  
“Nope!” Nepeta said cheerfully.  
“I was gonna just suggest we turn our shirts inside out,” Sollux said.  
“Oh, whoops,” Terezi said. “I already put some mud on mine. Uh, ta-da?”  
Sollux sighed. 

“I’m tiiired,” Nepeta said. “I wanna go to sleeeep.”  
“We all do, Nepeta,” Kanaya said gently. “We’re trying to find somewhere.”  
“Maybe that bookstore?” Karkat said.  
“Great idea, sleep in a bookstore,” Sollux said. “Very comfortable and inconspicuous.”  
“Shut up.”  
“Worth a shot!” Aradia said, and they turned and headed inside.  
“Well, it’s quiet,” Terezi said. “And-mmm, is that glue I smell?”  
“Ew,” Karkat muttered.  
“Thank goodness for quiet,” Nepeta said, collapsing dramatically on Sollux.  
“Um, I’m sorry, but we’re actually about to close up,” the bookstore owner said softly from behind a desk. “Sorry.”  
Karkat kicked angrily at the ground.  
“Can we maybe like...stay in that chair over there?” Aradia said, pointing at a chair. “I promise we’ll be quiet and the mud on Terezi is dry now.”  
“All of you in one chair? I don’t think you’d fit,” the bookstore lady mused. “I mean, no, obviously not!”  
“Boo,” Aradia said.  
“Yeah! Boo!” Terezi said.  
“I can give you guys a blanket?” the owner said. “How old are you, anyway?”  
“Too old for this!” Kanaya humphed and turned for the door. The others followed.  
Kanaya hesitated and turned back. “We will take the blanket, though.”

“Well, that certainly went better than our other attempts,” Kanaya said positively.  
“Wanna try the roof?” Terezi offered.  
Karkat yawned. “Not like we have a better option.”  
They climbed up the fire escape on the bookstore to the roof.  
“This is kind of cool,” Aradia admitted, looking out at the city. “Look, that whole building is a video!”  
“Aww, just like the TVs in the Facility,” Nepeta said. “Wait, was I being sarcastic or not? I’m not sure.”  
“It’s saying something about the Empire, I’m sure,” Kanaya said. “My goodness, this is very bright.”  
Nepeta lay down. “Bright or not, I’m sleeping now.”  
“One step ahead of you,” Sollux mouthed, pointing at Karkat, who was in fact already asleep.  
“Well, we made it out,” Terezi said, lying down as well. “Congratulations, everyone.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Goodday.”  
“Day.”

A while later, another person pulled themself onto the roof and recoiled in surprise. “Hm.”  
They knelt down, inspected the people sleeping, and then took out a small device.

AC: (=0o0=) GUYS, COME CHECK THIS MEWOUT! 

AC: (=0.0=) I THINK I FOUND WHO WE’VE B33N LOOKING FUR. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a cliffhanger! I say, knowing full well no one is reading this


	4. ==> Rebels: Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :3c

GA: No+ way. 

GA: No+t po+ssible. 

GC: 1 m34n couldn't th1s just b3 som3 r4ndo w1th no s1gn meul? 

AC: =(^O^)= NO!! LOOK AT HIS HORNS!!

[archaicCatpuns [AC] sent an image!] 

GA: ...Ho+ly shit. 

GA: It’s actually him. 

TA: 4/2/L?

AC: (=`ω´=)8 SW33PS, FEMALE, A ROOF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY TWO SHOPS AWAY FURM THE BOOKSTORE!

TA: 1 M34N7 7H3 K1D

AC: (=‘ouo=) OH. UH, SMALL, PURRBABLY A GUY, THE SAME ROOF I’M ON?

GC: w4nt m3 to com3 g3t you

[archaicCatpuns [AC]’s husktop has been knocked out of her hands!]

GA: The detail o+f these messages will never cease to+ asto+und me. 

GC: 1m gonna go g3t h3r

[gnarlyConsolist [GC] ceased responding to the memo!]

TA: 7UL4 W417! 4R6H 1'M C0M1N6 4F73R Y0U

[twofoldAnnihilation [TA] ceased responding to the memo!]

GA: Go+g damn it yo+u guys! 

GA: Well, I’m staying here like a sensible perso+n.

GA: ...

GA: Aw, fuck it. 

[glitteringApostle [GA] ceased responding to the memo!]

The troll known to the Empire as Porrim Maryam and to her friends as Porr stood up from her desk and handed a slip of paper to the librarian troll she’d been talking to.  
“Save this for later,” Porrim said, and promptly ran out the door.  
Okay, the bookstore...oh, of course, that bookstore. A few blocks down, Meul had said. Damnit Meul, that could have meant anything!  
Porr dodged a pedestrian and ducked into an alleyway. If she could just get to a roof, maybe she could see Meul and the others…  
She swung up onto a fire escape and started running towards the roof. The bookstore would be to her left…  
“EVERYONE COOL YA JETS! AND I MEAN IT!”  
“I CAN’T HEAR YOU. I SAID, I...CAN’T..”  
“GET OFF OUR ROOF!! MY FRIEND HAS A CHAINSAW!”  
Or, of course, she could just hear them screaming from thirty feet away.  
Porr did her best whistle, and the crew on the roof swiveled their heads as one to look at her.  
“THANK THE SIGNLESS,” Tuna yelled. There was a flash of light and Porr was moving to the other roof, surrounded by an electric, glowing field of psychic energy.  
“Thanks for the lift,” she said calmly, brushing static out of her hair. “Now, instead of jumping straight to a fight, let’s all put down our strife specibi and plan this thing for a second. Come on guys, strategy huddle.”  
The kids backed away to the other side of the roof and started whispering, and Porrim’s little group gathered around her.  
“Uh, Porr, shouldn’t we have just said no fighting instead of letting them plan?” Tuna said.  
Porr shook her head. “This lets them see we’re not out to get them and lets us size them up in case it does come to a skirmish.”  
“Smart,” Tula said with a nod.  
“Thanks,” Porr said. “Tula, you’ve got good senses. What’re the odds here?”  
Tula squinted across the roof. “Well, they look fresh out the Facility, but I think the yelly kid wasn’t lying when he said his friend got a chainsaw. Question is can she use it, but chainsaws’re a pretty simple hack-n-slash regardless. Don’t know about the others, but the kid with the mud looks like she can use her cane, and the one with the funky glasses probably’s got some psionics. So that’s all four of us versus Chainsaw Girl, Screamy Possible 69, Mini-Tuna, Cane Kid, some olive-probably trained in fighting-, and a real tiny kid with curly horns. I think so long as someone takes care of the olive and Tuna can get that chainsaw away from Chainsaw Girl, we can handle the rest.”  
“Sweet Signless, Tula, your brain can beat the Empire’s fanciest machines any day,” Tuna said, shaking his head. “Okay, so we can take ‘em in a fight, but how do we avoid letting it come to that?”  
“I dunno, but we better think fast,” Meul said. “They’re turning around.”  
“Okay,” Porr said. “Lemme handle this. Tuna, you’re not allowed to speak. Tula, you’re my back up.”  
Tuna shrugged. “That’s fair.”  
Porrim whirled around and flung her hands in the air. “As you can see, I don’t have a weapon on me and I’m not going to attack you. Hear me out.”  
The kids kept their weapons out, but they didn’t move.  
“We’ve noticed a few things,” Porrim said. “First of all, you guys are way too young to be out here all by yourselves. Second, your signs are hidden. There’s gotta be a reason for that. Third-” Here she nodded at the kid with the claws. “You’re trying to sneak up on us, but that’s not important. What’s important is that you’re clearly scared and trying to act like you know what you’re doing, and most important of all, one of you has no sign. So here’s my offer. You stick with us and let us help you, and in exchange we get to see if my hunch about the signless kid is right.”  
“What’ll you do if we say no?” the glasses kid with the cane spoke up.  
Porrim shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not hurt you, though we might hafta take away that chainsaw for your own safety.”  
“I know how to use this!” the girl with the chainsaw said, sounding rather insulted.  
“I know you do, ‘m worried for those around you,” Porrim said.  
Meul cleared her throat gently and signed “are they not going to fight us?” to Porr, who nodded.  
“Now that we’ve got that cleared up, HI, I’M MEUL!” Meul said, stepping forward and holding out her hand to shake. “That there’s Tuna, Tula, and the nice lady who was just talking to you was Porr! Tuna’s got the glasses, that’s how you can tell ‘em apart, haha.”  
“Meal, they both have glasses,” Porrim signed subtly.  
“I’m Kanaya,” the chainsaw girl said. “The small yelling one is Karkat, the one with the blue and red glasses is Sollux, the one with the curly horns is Aradia, the one who was trying to sneak up on you is Nepeta, and the one with the mud on her is Terezi.”  
“I could have introduced myself,” Karkat mumbled. “And I don’t yell that much.”  
“Hmm, nope,” Tuna said, adjusting his visor. “Those names aren’t gonna cut it.”  
“Cut what?” Aradia said.  
“You’re gonna need different names if your signs are anything to go by.”  
“We hid our signs-ohhh,” Terezi said, nodding. “I get it.”  
“I’m thinking TZ for you,” Tuna said thoughtfully. “Maybe Chainsaw Girl as a backup for KN over there...“  
“Why TZ?” Terezi interrupted.  
“‘Cause our nicknames are short of our ‘real’ names, but you’re even shorter, so you get even shorter ones,” Tuna said, looking very proud of himself.  
“I’m leaving,” Karkat declared, not moving.  
“And you’re KK,” Tuna said, nodding solemnly.  
“Um,” Mini-Tuna (oh, right, Sollux) said, raising his hand. “Is-I mean-did I see you levitate her earlier?”  
“Oh, right,” Tuna said. “Hang on, can you hand me your glasses?”  
Sollux glanced at Nepeta, who gave him a thumbs up, and handed over the glasses. His eyes glowed faintly red and blue, and little sparks floated in his hair.  
“Thanks,” Tuna said, and promptly dropped them on the ground and stomped on them.  
“NO!” Sollux yelped. “I need those!”  
“No you don’t,” Tuna said. Although it was hard to tell behind the visor, Porr was pretty sure he was raising an eyebrow.  
“Yes I do!” Sollux said, kneeling down and looking for the remains of the glasses. “If I don’t have them, I might zap someone by accident! And I won’t be able to measure heat or scan signs or anything!”  
“Huh, they’ve upgraded to just telling you lies,” Tuna said. “In my day, they just told us we needed them and trusted we’d obey.” He pulled Sollux to his feet. “If you really want them back, I can make you a pair like mine, but I had to stomp yours-all Facility-issued stuff has a tracking device on it.”  
“AH,” Sollux said, still staring at the ground.  
“That was dangerous,” Porr protested.  
“Yeah, what if the thing’d been programmed to explode?” Tula said.  
“And now you might have glass in your shoes!” Porr said. “Those are our best shoes!”  
Meul carefully stepped over the glass and to the kids, who aside from Sollux were still huddled at the other end of the roof. “Hey, it’s pretty cold up here and it’s still daytime-do you guys want to go?” She signed her words as she spoke them, but none of the kids seemed to notice.  
“Yeah, let’s-let’s go,” Karkat said, glancing at the others first as if to make sure he could speak for them.  
Nepeta stepped in front of Sollux before gently putting her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about your glasses,” she said quietly.  
“Thanks,” Sollux said, beginning to follow Meul off the roof. “And just so you know, I don’t totally trust these guys.”  
“Me neither,” Nepeta said, “But I trust ‘em more than I trust the television screens, and I think that’s enough.”  
Tula, who had overheard this, turned to her friends and gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whether Porrim is referred to as "Porr" or "Porrim" depends on whether she's trying to be Professional.


	5. ==> Sollux: Wake Up

At first, Sollux couldn’t place quite where he was-all he knew was it was kind of chilly and his clothes were feeling weird and the other goldbloods weren’t around and he was really freaked out for some reason. Was this what the files had meant when they said “slated for helmsmanship”? What were they going to do? What had they done already? Something bad had happened, he was sure of it. He had a blanket with him-why?

Nightmare. He had had a nightmare. The details were fuzzy now, but Sollux distinctly recalled having a nightmare. He hugged the blanket closer and shook his head firmly. Hey, where was his visor? 

_Then_ he remembered what had happened. He was in the city, in...wherever the older trolls had taken them last night. He didn’t remember much after that jerky guy (Tuba?) had smashed his glasses.

“Ah, you’re awake,” someone said, and Sollux made a kind of high-pitched beeping noise like when you got a star in a video game and fell over.

This was not a good morning.

“Woah, I didn’t know I was that scary,” the person said with a laugh. Their horns were really tiny, like Terezi’s...oh, right, the loud girl had said her name was Tula.

“So, how you feeling?” Tula said, putting on a pair of red glasses and carefully nudging someone else out of the way.

“Uh...good?” Sollux said, scooting backwards. 

Tula lowered her glasses to give him a ‘really.’ type stare.

“...I think I had a nightmare,” Sollux said.

Tula nodded. “Yeah, that’ll happen. You get used to it eventually. Or you start sleeping in sopor, but that’s not really an option for most people.”

“Sopor?” Sollux said. It was way too early for this, and his head hurt. He thought he could hear someone talking in the distance.

Tula frowned at the window. “I forget, did the programs say anything about clowns?”

“Sort of?” Sollux said hesitantly. He remembered something about clowns being very important and deserving of respect, but he didn’t remember why.

“Well, basically, clowns can cause nightmares, especially to lower blood castes and if you’re in close proximity to them. And since we’re in the city, you’re probably gonna get a few more nightmares than normal. Sopor slime is a thing that helps protect you from the nightmares if you sleep near it, but it’s pretty expensive.”

“Oh,” Sollux said in a small voice.

“Hey, it’s okay. We mostly stay away from clown central, so there’s a chance it could’ve just been culture shock, y’know? I mean, I don’t get...too many nightmares.”

“I’M UP!” Nepeta screeched, dramatically flinging a blanket into the wall and preventing Sollux from asking about the “too many” part. “AM I LATE? WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES? I’LL-um-oh, hi, Sollux.”

“Hi,” Sollux said. “You’re wearing your clothes.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Nepeta said blithely. Clearly she had not had nightmares the previous night. “It’s nice and quiet in here. I like it. Where are we?” She unsheathed and resheathed her claws.

“We’re in the basement of a radio station,” Porr replied, now obviously awake as well. Sollux scooted towards Nepeta slightly. “They’re being very nice to let us stay here.”

“Oh!” someone-Meul, Sollux was pretty sure-said, leaping up. “I should go say thank you!”

She leapt up, ran to a doorway, yelled “THANK YOU!”, and promptly returned.

Sollux grumbled something about loudness and headaches.

“Hello,” Kanaya said. Nepeta yelped. “I have been attempting to wake Karkat but it is not working. Is there food here?”

“This is a lot of people,” Nepeta commented, doing the thing with her claws again. “I’m gonna...go...over there.” She pointed at a corner and promptly scurried to said corner.

Sollux just sighed and internally accepted a life of mild irritation.

The others soon woke up, and Sollux remained sitting quietly against a wall as they talked about something or other. Geez, there sure were a lot of people talking. Some of the voices didn’t even sound that familiar.

Sollux was so preoccupied with the voices that for a couple minutes he failed to notice Tuna sitting nearby.

“Ahem,” Tuna said eventually, and Sollux glanced over. 

“Oh. Hi.”

“Are you still mad about the glasses?”

“Yes. Very.”

“Ah. Well. That makes sense. I can try and make you another pair without the tracking device?”

“I thought you said I didn’t need them.”

“Well, I...forgot something. At least, I think I did. Do you ever hear voices? Oh, wait, that sounded weird. What I mean is-“

“Wait wait wait. Can you be quiet for a second and let me think?” Sollux said. 

Tuna complied, and Sollux closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the voices he could hear. Aradia chattering excitedly to Kanaya, Tula saying something about glasses and screens to someone else, Karkat complaining, and...

Someone else. Someone he didn’t know. Saying...

“DRONES! RUN!”

It sparked an immediate reaction-Porr leapt to her feet, tugging Kanaya and Karkat towards the back wall, Tula started kicking a sleeping Terezi while screaming (no actual words, just a very unhelpful “AAAAAA”) and Meul frantically yelled “WHAT? WHAT IS IT?” while doing something weird with her hands. Nepeta remained curled in a corner, Aradia looked like she might cry, and Tuna just sighed. 

“CALM DOWN,” he yelled with an accompanying burst of red and blue sparks, and everyone turned to face him. “Sol here was just confirming what I suspected-he can hear the voices too.”

“Ah,” Porr said. “Give us some warning next time.”

“ARE WE DYING,” Meul said, waving her hands at Tula, who waved her hands back. 

“What is that that you are doing?” Kanaya asked, pointing at Tula’s hands.

As Tula started explaining something, Tuna turned back to Sollux. “So anyway, Sol, you and me can hear the voices of the soon-to-be dead. The visor muffled the voices for you, but since it’s gone, you’re gonna need to put up with them for a little longer until I can fix you something like my visor.”

“Oh,” Sollux said simply.

The “DRONES! RUN!” person’s voice had died out (probably literally. fuck.) but there were other voices replacing hers. One seemed to be talking someone out of a fight, one was clearly very old, but most seemed completely unaware of their impending death.

Sollux clamped his hands over his ears (not that it did any good) and glared at Tuna. “You better make me a replacement soon.”

“I will,” Tuna said, and he seemed serious about it.

Porr clapped her hands, attracting everyone’s attention. “Okay! We’ve wasted enough time here, let’s get a move on!”

“Where to?” Karkat said.

Porr shrugged. “I have to see a librarian who I very abruptly left yesterday.”

“I have a gamer thing,” said Tuna. 

“A...what?” Sollux said.

Tuna crossed his arms. “I have a gamer thing. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Not it,” Tula said, putting a finger on her nose. 

“Guess that means I’m it!” Meul said. “Alright, come on guys. I’m gonna teach you how to pick a lock!”

“Yay!” Nepeta said, following in her footsteps. 

“And while we’re at it, I’ll even teach you some sign language!” Meul said, leading the group of trolls up the stairs and out into the glittering city. “I really should have become one of the people who records the educational programs.”

“What’s sign language?” Aradia asked.

Meul glanced around them anxiously. They were already getting some strange looks from those around them due to the younger trolls being, well, younger. “I’ll explain later. Come on!”

She continued walking, now considerably faster. The others scurried to catch up.

Nepeta was the fastest, which was irritating to Sollux, since she was really the only one he considered a friend in this motley crew. 

“Hi,” an annoyingly loud voice said, and Sollux jumped. 

It was the one with the nubby horns, Karkat. Sollux didn’t know him that well, but he seemed alright. 

“Hey,” Sollux said. 

Karkat shifted. “So...what exactly are these ‘voices’?”

“Apparently, I can hear people who are about to die,” Sollux said. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Karkat said. “I’ll, uh, I’ll respect that.”

Sollux looked around him. The city was really bright, even now that it was nighttime. 

“Here we are!” Meul chirped. Sollux squinted up at a giant flashing red fork reading “BETTY CROCKER”. A scream echoed distantly in his head.

“Anyone want to take a shot at this?” Meul said, gesturing to the locked door. “This is beginner-level stuff. Nep?”

Nepeta stepped forward and squinted at the lock. “Umm…”

She casually unsheathed her claws and swiped at the lock. Sollux winced.

The lock didn't break.

“Here, let me,” Karkat said. “I’ve watched a ton of movies about this.”

Nepeta looked at him doubtfully, but stepped back to let him try. 

Karkat looked awkward. “Uh, anyone have a paper clip?”

Meul handed him one.

Karkat fidgeted with the lock. Nothing happened.

“Okay, we’re attracting attention,” Meul said. “Allow me.”

She clenched her fist and claws like Nepeta’s popped out. Meul slid one into the lock and wiggled it thoughtfully. There’s a _click_ and she beamed. “Come on!”

Everyone piled into the building. It was dark, quiet, and filled with boxes of something that smelled _great._ Sollux was suddenly aware that he hadn’t eaten since dinner at the Facility, which was...two nights ago? He wasn’t sure.

“Purreat job!” Meul said, locking the door behind them. “Okay, so—Kar, mew had the right idea, but clearly the mewvies didn’t show mew what actually happens. Depending on the shape of the lock, the place you want to put the wire is difurent.” She paused and looked at the kids. “Hmm. Hang on.”

With her still unsheathed claws, Meul ripped through one of the boxes and took out some tins of cake mix. She handed them to the confused young trolls. “Here. It’s not grreat fur mew, but maybe eating something will make mew actually concenpurrate on what I’m saying.” She took a seat on the counter of the store. “So, I can’t hear what you’re saying—I’m deaf. I can sometimes tell by context and reading lips, but that’s not always great. So, sign language!! Purr and Tuna and Tula helped me come up with it. I’ll teach mew some signs.”

Sollux finished the last of the cake mix and scooched towards Meul, intrigued. Trolls who couldn’t hear or see were only mentioned in passing in the videos, usually as tragic figures. Wait, Terezi couldn’t see, could she? Huh.

“Uh, I can’t see,” Terezi said helpfully. She had been licking the cake mix out of the tin.

Meul frowned. “That’ll be a slight purroblem.” She hopped down from the counter and took Terezi’s hands. “Can you feel it if I do this?” She moved Terezi’s hands around.

“Yeah,” Terezi said, nodding.

“Okay!” Meul said, clapping her hands. “Let’s get down to business!”

[You cat], Karkat signed to Nepeta. 

[Thank you], Nepeta signed back.

“Uh, actually, that’s ‘fuck you’,” Meul said. “ _This_ is ‘thank you.’”

Karkat considered this, then signed [Fuck you.] to Aradia.

[Run!] Aradia signed back, possibly unaware of what she was saying.

Meul gave them all thumbs-ups. “Purreat! Good job!! Anyone hungry?” She signed the words along with saying them.

Sollux was still hungry, but also the cake mix had been gross. 

“How do you say ‘good’?” Kanaya asked.

Meul demonstrated.

[Thank you!] Kanaya signed.

Meul stretched. “Well, it’s dangpurrous to stay here fur too long. I’ll just ask Tula where she is and we can meet up.”

“Cool,” Sollux said, sitting down and resting his head against the counter. He’d been trying to avoid listening too hard to the voices, but they were loud.

“You good?” Nepeta said. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Sollux said. A scream rang out suddenly and he winced. “People die a lot in the City.”

“Meowch,” Nepeta said, sitting down beside him.

Sollux rolled his eyes. “Great, now you’re doing the cat pun thing too.”

Nepeta stuck out her tongue at him.

“Okay, Tula says she’ll meet us near the car repurr store,” Meul said. “Let’s go!”

Sollux headed for the exit, but Meul shook her head. “Back door, or people will wonder why we’re in a locked building.”

“Oh,” Sollux said, and turned the other way.

“So, why the nicknames?” Nepeta said to Meul as the older troll walked purposefully through a series of winding alleyways.

Meul turned to look at her. “What?”

“Why the nicknames?” Nepeta repeated.

Meul squinted. “Uh, if you’re saying what I think you’re saying, the Empire has Meulin on record, but not Meul.”

“Oohhh,” Nepeta said.

“Do you always stay in the radio station?” Karkat said. Unfortunately, Meulin wasn’t looking at him.

“I guess questions will have to wait until we’re not moving,” Sollux said.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to walk much farther. Meul made a sharp turn and they emerged next to a car repair store. 

“Up here!” a voice called, and Sollux tilted his head up to see Tula waving down at them from the roof. 

“Do you guys just spend all your time on roofs?” Karkat said irritatedly once they’d reached the top.

“Pretty much,” Tula said.   
“Hey SX,” Tuna said. “How’re you holding up?”  
“Okay,” Sollux said. He glanced up at the sky. Aside from the slight shimmer of the sunshield, it looked no different from the skies at the Facility. Sollux was struck by the thought that he could probably use his now unrestrained psionics to fly back there right now. Get his glasses back and stop hearing voices and tell all his friends about his adventure.

“What would have happened, if I’d stayed at the Facility?” Sollux asked Tuna. _What would happen if I went back?_

Tuna winced. “They would have...they’d have hooked you up to some of their machines and turned you into a battery. It’s what almost happened to me--I wasn’t smart enough to escape like you.” 

“Oh,” SX said. He looked up at the sky one more time, then back down at the others. Karkat and Nepeta were now badgering Tula for answers. 

He sat down and (for now) decided to stay. 


	6. ==> Rebels: Converse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kicking things back off with a good old fashioned pesterlog chapter!  
> thanks for this chapter to:  
> my beta reader, tuwurntech  
> mod dave of incorrect-hs-quotes, for providing the alpha troll trolltag hcs  
> peridot steven universe's twitter, for coming up with the "IF I DIDN'T TALK LIKE THIS, HOW WOULD YOU KNOW I'M SHOUTING?" joke  
> and viewers like you. thank you!

\--grimAuxiliatrix [GA]  began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]\--

GA: Testing Testing  
GA: Is This Thing On  
CG: I THINK SO.  
CG: YOU CAN READ THIS, RIGHT?  
GA: Yes I Can  
GA: Interesting Way Of Typing You Chose  
CG: IF I DIDN’T TYPE LIKE THIS HOW WOULD YOU KNOW I’M SHOUTING?  
GA: Ha Ha  
GA: I Had Heard Of “Typing Quirks” In The Schoolfeeds But Never Suspected I Would Eventually Choose One  
CG: I GUESS NOT ALL PROFESSIONS REQUIRE YOU TO TYPE?  
GA: Hmmm Good Point  
GA: I Probably Would Have Gone Into Fashion Design So I Would Probably Have Had To Negotiate With Customers Via Text  
CG: YEAH, PROBABLY.  
CG: I…DON’T KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE BEEN. MOST RUSTBLOODS WORK IN FACTORIES, I THINK?  
GA: But You Are Not A Burgundy Blood  
CG: YEAH, BUT THE PLAN WAS THAT NO ONE WOULD EVER KNOW THAT.  
GA: Well The Plan Failed  
CG: YEAH.  
CG: ...I THINK THIS IS BETTER THAN SECRETS AND FACTORIES, THOUGH.  
GA: I Agree  
GA: Well Anyway Weve Established Our Trollian Accounts Work  
CG: YUP! YEAH!  


\--grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased trolling carcinoGenesticist [CG]\--

\--twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling  apocalypseArisen [AA]\--

TA: hey aa  
AA: 0h hell0!  
AA: y0uve never texted me bef0re ^0^  
TA: ye2 well ii’m textiing you now becau2e kk want2 to know iif you want burger  
AA: wh0 is burger?  
TA: no liike to eat  
AA: 0h s0rry i meant what is burger  
TA: have you 2eriou2ly never had a burger before  
AA: n0  
TA: :33< hi aa i took sxs phone beclaws he started yelling at kk!!!  
TA: :33< anyaway burgrrs are delicious and i cant believe your caretaker nefur got mew one!  
TA: :33< im getting mew one right nyow  
TA: :33< or well tuna is  
TA: :33< how are things where you are?  
AA: fine  
AA: tz is mad she c0uldnt g0 0n the burger j0urney  
AA: kn is talking with p0rr  
AA: have y0u n0ticed they have the same h0rns?  
TA: :33< yes!!  
TA: :33< oh the burgrrs are here gotta go!! s33 you soon!!!  
AA: bye!  


\--twinArmageddons [TA]  ceased trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]\--

\--twofoldAnnihilation [TA] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]\--

TA: H3Y 5X WH3R3 Y0U 47  
TA: ii’m wiith kk  
TA: we’re gettiing 2omethiing to eat  
TA: what2 up  
TA: 1 G07 Y0UR GL45535 F1N4LLY  
TA: 1 JU57 H4D 7H15 FUCK1NG W1LD 8UR57 0F 3N3RGY 4ND 1 D0N7 M34N 7H3 K1ND 7H47 C0M35 0U7 0F MY 3Y35 50 1 M4D3 Y0U 6145535!!!  
TA: N1C3 QU1RK B7W  
TA: oh fuck ye2!!  
TA: ii’ll tell kk to get goiing  
TA: H3Y WH3R3D Y0U 134RN 7H47 W0RD Y0UNG W16613R  
TA: (1 M34N FUCK 70 63 C134R)  
TA: uh  
TA: you?  
TA: H4H4 5W337  
TA: ehehe  
TA: alriight kk and ii are on our way  
TA: 2ee you 2oon  
TA: N07 1F 1 533 Y0U F1R57!  


\--twofoldAnnihilation [TA] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]\--

\--gnarlyConsolist [GC] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]\--

GC: tz, c4n you s33 th1s?  
GC: NOP3  
GC: r4d1c4l  
GC: how 4r3 you f33l1ng  
GC: UH...F1N3 1 GU3SS  
GC: 1 M34N 1TS N4TUR4L TO WOND3R 4BOUT 4LT3RN4T3 T1M3L1N3S R1GHT  
GC: uh...1 gu3ss so?  
GC: 1 know 1 do som3t1m3z  
GC: Y34H! S33, 1 TOLD 4R4D14 TH4T BUT SH3S ST1ll WORR13D FOR SOM3 R34SON  
GC: h4ng on  
GC: wh3r3 you 4t, tz?  
GC: BY TH3 SCUTTL3BUGGY STOR3  
GC: ok4y, 1’m com1ng over th3r3. 1 th1nk w3 should t4lk 4bout th1z 1rl, you f33l m3?  
GC: 1 GU3SS??  
GC: r4d. omw!  


\--gnarlyConsolist [GC] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]\--

\-- archaicCatpuns [AC]  began trolling  arsenicCatnip [AC] \--

AC: (^・o・^)ノ< NP, ARE MEW OCAT?  
AC: :??< ocat?  
AC: (=TェT=)< I MEOWNT OKAY…  
AC: :33< oh!  
AC: :33< im ocat dont purry  
AC: ://< it was just kind of loud in there so i went outside  
AC: (=^ω^=)< PHEW!!  
AC: (=；ェ；=)< SORRY, I NYAOW ME AND TUNA CAN BE PURRETTY LOUD…  
AC: :33< thats ocat!!  
AC: :33< i purromise im not in any dangfur and ill come inside soon  
AC: ヽ (=^・ω・^=)ノ< TAKE PURR TIME!!  


\-- archaicCatpuns [AC]  ceased trolling  arsenicCatnip [AC] \--

\-- glitteringApostle [GA]  began trolling  grimAuxliatrix [GA] \--

GA: KN? Are yo+u alright?  
GA: Im Fine  
GA: Are yo+u sure? Yo+u rushed o+ut o+f training very fast.  
GA: It Was For Karkat  
GA: Karkat?  
GA: I Was Not The One In Danger It Was Him  
GA: Why wo+uld KK be in danger?  
GA: I pro+mise we wo+n’t let yo+u guys get serio+usly hurt.  
GA: Even The Smallest Hurt Could Be Dangerous  
GA: Im Sorry I Promised Him I Wouldnt Talk About It  
GA: Ah. I think I see what yo+u mean.  
GA: Do+n’t wo+rry, KN. I’ll talk to+ him.  


\-- glitteringApostle [GA]  ceased trolling  grimAuxliatrix [GA] \--


	7. ==> KK: Converse.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Porr and KK have a chat about some things. A few questions are answered. Most are not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case it isn't clear, kk and the others are around 11 human years right now, and have literally never been outside of their homes before (haha. homestuck.). hopefully this explains any ooc behavior--i promise i was putting thought into this!

The troll formerly known as Karkat had stayed in the city for about two weeks now. 

There had been rules at the Facility, and Karkat had memorized them and followed them perfectly. It was probably how he’d managed to live this long.

There were rules here in the city too. KK was working on memorizing those.

Some rules their new Caretakers had said out loud.

“Never use lethal force unless it’s 1 on 1 combat,” Porr had said during combat training one day. “We don’t want to kill any more than we have to.”

“Never tell anyone your full name,” Tula had instructed after a close call with an indigoblood. “Never volunteer information.”

"Danger," Meul had signed, pointing at the Crockercorp red fork in a store window.

"Hungry,” KK had signed, remembering the first day in the city when they’d eaten cake mix.

Meul had signed something KK didn’t understand, then frowned. "Go purr."

So here KK was, climbing up the fire escape to the roof of the library. 

Seriously, what was it with these people and roofs?

“Hey, KK,” Porr said, nodding to him. “Aren’t you supposed to be in fight practice?”

“I was excused,” KK said. “Because of, uh, what happened the other day.”

“Right,” Porr said. “I was going to talk to you about that.”

“Okay,” KK said. “Actually, there’s something else that Meul told me to ask you right now?”

“Hit me,” Porr said.

It took KK a second to figure that she didn’t mean ‘Attack me,’ like she sometimes did in training class. 

“Okay, so, Meul told us the red forks are bad, but she gave us cake mix from a store with a giant red fork once, so why’d she do that?”

Porr sighed. “See, any store with a red fork in it’s window is CrockerCorp owned. But the store Meul broke into your first night was empty at the time, and also just straight up a CC outlet.”

“Uh-huh,” KK said, not really knowing what was going on.

“Stores with red forks are only dangerous when they’re open, but they’re _really_ dangerous then, because CrockerCorp will know everything that happens in those stores. So steer clear, alright?”

“Alright,” KK agreed. Porr was much better than the Caretakers had been at explaining things. Also, she didn’t glitch.

KK kicked his legs back and forth. “So, what do you do besides sit on roofs and steal sometimes?”

Porr sighed. “Currently? Not much. Try ‘n educate the masses, sometimes. Pamphlets and the like. And, of course, we look after you.”

“Why?” KK said.

Porrim tilted her head back, looking up at the sky. KK knew that one of the rules was that if Porr or Tula did that, they were thinking and their answer was going to be extra interesting, but if Tuna or Meul did that, they weren’t going to reply to you. In Meul’s case, she probably just didn’t know you were talking, and you should go make direct eye contact with her and try again. If it was Tuna, he was probably in a Blue Mood and you should leave him alone.

This musing gave Porr the time to consider her answer.

“You know your blood color, right?”  
“...Yeah?” KK said cautiously. He didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“Right, well, there’s been one other troll with that blood color. And he’s dead.”

KK frowned. Now he definitely didn’t like where this conversation was going.

Porr sighed. “His name was—well, we all called him the Signless, and he was who got all of us together. Maybe I’ll explain the full story to you sometime. But he was really important—to us, and to the whole rebellion. But then—“

She paused and swallowed hard. KK wondered if she was going to start crying, and what he should do if so.

“But then he died,” Porr said. “And the rebellion sort of fell apart without him. The Disciple, his matesprit, kind of went into hiding. Meul thinks she’s still spreading the message of rebellion, but secretly I’m not sure. The Dolorosa, who sort of took care of me, she got captured by CrockerCorp. And, well, it just all got really bad.”

KK patted Porr on the arm in his best imitation of the Caretakers Comfort Mode. 

She glanced up and smiled. “Thanks, KK. And, see, this is exactly what I’m talking about! The revolution needs hope right now, and you can be that. You have his blood, you have his horns—you can bring hope back to the rebels who thought it was lost when Signless died!”

“Oh, um,” KK said nervously. “I don’t know if I can do that?”

“That’s okay,” Porr said confidently. “They’ll be glad just to see you.”

KK still felt nervous, but Porr looked so happy he didn’t really want to protest right now.

“Porr!” Tuna’s voice called from below. “We’re going out to criticize the CC advertisements. Come with?”

“Sure, sure, be right there!” Porr said. She turned to KK. “C’mon. And, uh, I hope I helped.”

“You did,” KK said, although secretly he wasn’t sure.


End file.
